Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) yesterday apologized for seeming to insinuate that independent legislative candidate Hung Tzu-yung (洪慈庸) only cared about marriage and having children.
While campaigning for Hung’s rival, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative candidate Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), in Taichung on Friday, Gou said that Hung is young and has certain supporters, but seems to have been busy getting married and giving birth since she was elected as a lawmaker in 2016.
Gou yesterday issued a statement apologizing to Hung and all women, saying his remarks were not meant to be derogatory, and were just a careless slip of the tongue.
Photo: Ou Su-mei, Taipei Times
His comments reflected the opinions of some Taichung residents, Gou said, adding that he was sorry if he offended Hung or any other woman.
He understands how difficult it is for women to balance having a career and a family, as his aides Amanda Liu (劉宥彤) and Evelyn Tsai (蔡沁瑜) have three children each, Gou said.
Having helped with Gou’s campaign during the KMT’s presidential primary before he quit the party in September, Liu and Tsai are now People First Party legislator-at-large candidates.
Gou said he actually encourages people to have more children, and added that his company offers birth subsidies of more than NT$100,000 to female employees.
He also proposed subsidies for people raising children up to the age of six to alleviate the burden on women, he said.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Gou utterly failed his gender equality education.
Hung, who has the DPP’s support, said that the choices women make should not become targets for men to attack in election campaigns, and that Gou should apologize sincerely, rather than saying he was misunderstood.
Given his proposed policy of childcare subsidies, Gou should care about the nation’s declining birthrate and love children, she said, asking why he would attack a political rival’s choice to give birth.
Such verbal abuse also highlights the pressure that women frequently experience at work, she said, urging men to show more respect for women raising children.
Meanwhile, Yang thanked Gou for his assistance in her campaign.
He has shown great reverence toward his mother and employed many female executives, so he would never discriminate against women, she said.
Gou has accounted for himself, while the DPP should not distort his remarks by quoting him out of context just to reap political benefits, she added.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu
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